'Hypnotic Eye' delivers

Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers kick off their summer 2014 tour in support of their latest album, “Hypnotic Eye,” Sunday in San Diego.

Photo: Jerod Harris / Getty Images

Tom Petty

& the Heartbreakers

“Hypnotic Eye”

(Reprise)

Tom Petty's 13th album with his perennially underrated backup band is being hyped as a jolt of energy in comparison with “Mojo,” the 63-year-old straw-haired rocker's bluesy, often rambling set in 2010 with the Heartbreakers. That's accurate enough: “Hypnotic Eye” delivers welcome Petty snarl and always impeccable Mike Campbell guitar work.

Without getting too heavy-handed, there's also a fair share of sociopolitical commentary, from the shuddering “Power Drunk,” which examines police corruption, to “Playing Dumb,” a vinyl-only hidden track that assails the Catholic Church over sexual-abuse transgressions.

It's a vital-sounding collection for sure, with concise songs that'll hold their own when heard amid the prodigious catalog TP & the HBs will pull from when they perform live. And if only a handful — the geological metaphor “Fault Lines,” the heavy riffing “All You Can Carry,” the psych-rock celebration “U Get Me High” — are likely to stand up over the long haul, that's still a pretty impressive batting average at this late stage.